Chapter 5 - Golden Generation
The training yard echoed with the thud of wood striking wood, sweat flying in the hot air. Lionel's body ached, his hands blistered around the spear's shaft, but his grin never wavered.
"Again," Melinda barked, her fiery hair snapping like a whip behind her as she circled him. "If you can't even keep your stance, you'll embarrass Sylvia and me both."
Lionel wiped blood from his lip and chuckled. "Relax, Witchy. You act like falling on my ass is a crime against humanity."
"Call me that again and I'll burn your eyebrows off."
He twirled the spear, wobbling slightly, and shot her a crooked smile. "Bold of you to assume these brows aren't fireproof."
The spear cracked across his shin, courtesy of Melinda's boot. Lionel yelped, hopping on one leg. "Ow! Abuse! This is child labor."
"Child labor?" she snorted. "You're sixteen. In this world, that's prime cannon-fodder age."
Nira, waiting by the shade with a towel, sighed. "Young Master, maybe focus? Please?"
Lionel shot her a grin between gasps. "Don't worry, Nira. I'll look heroic while dying."
Melinda rolled her eyes, smacking the back of his knee with her spear. "Drop the jokes and hold your damn stance!"
---
The week that followed was a blur of bruises, screaming muscles, and sarcastic muttering under Lionel's breath. By the time he collapsed into his bed each night, he felt like his bones had been boiled alive. And yet—every morning, he got up grinning.
By the seventh day, he could feel it. His body, once fragile and soft, was hardening. His stamina stretched further, his swings faster.
Not perfect. Not even close. But stronger.
---
The morning of the ceremony arrived with a red dawn.
Lionel stood outside the White estate, hair combed, uniform sharp, though his crimson eyes carried their usual glint of mischief. Parked before him was a sleek, blood-red Rolls Royce with polished chrome, the White family crest—a white dragon coiled around a field of crimson—painted boldly on the hood.
"Damn," Lionel whistled, running his fingers along the paint. "If cars back on Earth looked this good, I'd have faked being rich just to sit in one."
Nira opened the door with a bow. "The Duchess insisted you arrive in style."
Lionel smirked, sliding in. "Of course she did. A dragon prince doesn't walk—he glides."
The engine purred like a beast as the car rolled through the capital, glass towers glinting with runes, airships drifting lazily above. Lionel stared out the window, eyes wide despite himself.
"This world really is insane," he muttered. "Flying boats, magic skyscrapers, cars running on mana… Earth feels like the Stone Age in comparison."
The System chirped in his head, annoyingly cheerful.
> [Correction: Host's old world was a dumpster fire. This one is only slightly less so.]
Lionel snorted aloud. "Not wrong."
---
The Awakening Institute loomed like a palace of glass and steel, its gates buzzing with energy. Inside, hundreds of students filled the massive hall, each stepping one by one toward the towering crystal orb pulsing with light.
"Damn," Lionel muttered, eyeing the sea of bodies. "Feels like waiting for concert tickets."
Nira pinched his arm. "Behave."
"I am behaving. I haven't mocked anyone's haircut yet."
She groaned.
---
Names were called, one after another. The extras went first.
"Ronan Hale," the announcer boomed. The boy pressed his hand to the crystal. It flickered.
[Wind Affinity – B Rank. Talent: Gale Step – C Rank.]
Polite claps. Ronan slumped away, embarrassed.
Others followed. Fire, water, earth, wind. Mostly B or A talents. The crowd cheered politely, but the air buzzed with anticipation. Everyone knew the real stars hadn't touched the crystal yet.
---
"Noah Velmor."
The hall hushed. Lionel leaned on the railing, smirking as the blonde boy strutted up. The crystal flared violently the moment Noah touched it, sparks shooting across the hall.
[Lightning Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Solarwind Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Talent: Solar Sovereign – SSS+ Rank.]
The crowd erupted. Cheers shook the walls.
"Holy hell," someone gasped. "A SSS+ talent! That hasn't happened in centuries!"
Noah raised his arms, basking in the noise. His eyes found Lionel in the crowd, smirking arrogantly.
Lionel clapped slowly, lazily. "Not bad, sunshine. Want me to fetch you some sunscreen?"
Noah's smirk twitched.
---
"Fiona Leonhart."
The crystal pulsed silver and black, humming ominously.
[Metal Affinity – SS Rank. Psychic Affinity – SS Rank. Talent: Mental Tyrant – SSS Rank.]
"Two SS affinities… and a SSS talent?!" the crowd roared.
Fiona brushed her hair back, shooting Lionel a sharp look. He blew her a kiss.
Her glare could've melted steel.
---
"Sylphie Bloodborne."
The orb bled crimson and black, filling the hall with cold dread.
[Blood Affinity – SS Rank. Death Affinity – S Rank. Destruction Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Talent: Monarch of Death and Destruction – SSS Rank.]
Students recoiled. A girl fainted.
Sylphie only smirked, her eyes glinting scarlet as they locked onto Lionel. "What do you think? Terrified yet?"
Lionel clapped twice, grinning. "Terrified? No. Intrigued? Definitely."
Her smirk widened.
---
"Prince Kael Naviel."
Golden fire erupted from the crystal.
[Solar Affinity – SS Rank. Talent: Solar Lord – SS+ Rank.]
The crowd cheered, though not as loud as Noah's. Kael gritted his teeth.
Lionel whispered, "Ouch. Imagine being outshined at your own show."
---
"Princess Iyana Naviel."
The crystal flared with blinding light, shifting through silver, gold, and shadow.
[Lunar Affinity – SS Rank. Solar Affinity – SS Rank. Eclipse Affinity – SS Rank. Talent: All-Seeing Eye – SSS Rank.]
The room went silent. Then deafening.
"A triple affinity?! And an SSS rank talent!"
Lionel's system snickered.
> [Correction: EX Rank, actually. Crystal's just too dumb to read it.]
Lionel blinked, then grinned wolfishly. (So my fiancée's secretly even more busted than me? Yeah, she's definitely harem material.)
---
Finally, the announcer called, "Lionel White."
The hall buzzed with whispers.
"The Duchess's adopted son?"
"I heard he was weak."
"Didn't he just wake up from a coma?"
Lionel sauntered up, smirking at the crystal like it owed him money. He placed his hand.
The orb went berserk. Light and shadow exploded in every direction, shards of energy blasting across the room. The crystal cracked, groaning under the strain.
[Light Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Space Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Ice Affinity – SSS+ Rank. Talent: Eternal Monarch of Convergence – SSS+ Rank.]
The crowd lost its mind. Screams, gasps, disbelief.
"Three SSS+ affinities?! That's impossible!"
"Another SSS+ talent?!"
"This generation is unreal…"
Lionel turned, bowing with exaggerated flourish. "Ladies, gentlemen, and extras—your new favorite legend has arrived."
Noah snarled. "Cocky bastard."
Fiona muttered, "Infuriating."
Sylphie laughed darkly. "Obsessed already."
Iyana only shook her head, amused.
Lionel winked at her. "Guess we're stuck together, huh, Moonlight?"
She almost smiled. "Guess so."
---
The ceremony ended in chaos—everyone whispering, buzzing, the teachers barely keeping order.
Golden Generation. That's what they called it now. The strongest crop of geniuses in a thousand years.
Lionel leaned against the wall, grinning to himself.
(Golden Generation, huh? Fine. Let them shine. I'll laugh louder than all of them when I take the throne of this world.)
And laugh he did, soft and sharp, while the hall trembled under the weight of legends yet to be born.
---
✨ End of Chapter 5 ✨